• Home
• What's new?

• About
• Cycling 2020
• Membership
  • Join the Campaign online!
• Newsletters
  • The current newsletter
  • Previous newsletters
  • Newsletter 'threads'
  • Advertising
• Events & diary
• Campaigning
• Elections
• Planning
• E-mail lists
• Resources
• Mapping
• Links
• Contacts
• 
  Journey Planner and Photomap

• Follow us on Twitter
• Become a Facebook fan
• Get Acrobat Reader 
• Search the site 

Newsletter 51 (December 2003 / January 2004)

Contents:

• AGM 2003
• Beware cycle routes
• Milton cycle bridge in place
• Correction
• Grand Arcade plans
• A tale of two bus lanes
• Sustrans talk
• Adaptable cyclists cope with abysmal Cambridge road layouts
• Cycle parking grants
• Coldhams Business Park works to require temporary closure of the Tins path
• Velo-City 2003: Simon's story
• Norwich wheels on the train
• Station area developments
• Cycling on shared paths
• Cycling shorts
• Local Transport Plan
• Letters
• Reporting faults and problems
• Small ads
• Campaign Diary
• Your streets this month
• About the Campaign
• Elected Officers 2003-2004
• Contacting the Campaign

AGM 2003

Our guest speaker, Dr Dorothy Gregson, Director of Public Health at Cambridge City Primary Care Trust.

The eighth Cambridge Cycling Campaign AGM took place on Tuesday 4 November, and was well attended. Our guest speaker, Dr Dorothy Gregson, Director of Public Health at Cambridge City Primary Care Trust, spoke about the work of the Trust in improving local health. Promoting cycling is an important aspect of this work. Questions from the floor covered:

• Cycling as part of an integrated framework for promoting health
• The lack of resources available and limitations on public bodies
• Helmets and their promotion or compulsion.

We planned to show a new short film, 44 Tonne Articulated Trucks and Towns Don't Mix, by filmmaker Robin Webb, on the dangers posed to cyclists by heavy lorries, but unfortunately lack of a projector meant that this will have to be delayed until a forthcoming monthly meeting.

Elected officers

The talk was followed by the business of the AGM, including the election of the Committee, who will serve until November 2004 or thereabouts.

Martin Lucas-Smith, Co-ordinator, presented a brief review of the year, touching on the various themes we have seen this past year, including:

• Buses and bikes - our campaigns on Hills Road and Milton Road
• Cycle parking - getting Cambridge City Council to enforce their own standards
• Changes in the city centre - including an experiment to make Trinity Street two-way for cyclists during the daytime, following a review of the current bans
• Supermarkets - Tesco and Asda (or rather, the Beehive Centre) and the problems cyclists encounter at these locations
• Bridges - Changes to Fort St George about to be made and new bridges at Milton and now over Riverside
• The challenges we face in the coming year
• Getting more members involved and showing how individual members often can kick off issues that the Campaign itself finds hard to bring up.

David Dyer, Treasurer, gave a review of the accounts, presenting a moderate surplus, but suggesting that caution will be needed in the year ahead. A motion to leave membership rates unchanged was passed nem con.

Dave Earl spoke briefly on membership figures, which are reasonably static at present. Various ideas were put forward as to how to increase the number of people in the Campaign.

Thanks were given for the hard work of the outgoing Committee. Your new Committee is as listed on this page.

Minutes, including the review of the year, are available to members via our usual contact details on request.

Secretary still needed!

The Committee is still very much in need of a Secretary, as the now vacant post was not filled at the AGM. This is to deal with things such as incoming post, helping keep track of deadlines, sending standard replies where appropriate, and ideally also attending and taking minutes at Committee and open meetings.

At present, the Co-ordinator is the acting Secretary, limiting time for campaigning.

The post is voluntary - the Campaign isn't in a league where it can afford to pay salaries - but we can offer reasonable expenses for using your own computer, bike, and so on. And of course, we'll reimburse any direct costs and provide equipment such as a scanner if necessary. In return we are looking for a regular commitment to spending three or four hours a week making sure we are up to date.

As we propose to do most communication over the Internet, candidates must have access to a capable PC, with email and an Internet connection, and they must be comfortable using a word processor program. Campaigning experience is not necessary, but systematic, organised secretarial skills are.

Martin Lucas-Smith

Beware cycle routes

Two separate unpleasant near-misses happened to Campaign members recently on cycle routes on the edges of Cambridge. In one of them, a fence wire was stretched across a cycle path with the intention of knocking cyclists off their bikes. In the other, someone scattered about forty rocks on a dark path, not necessarily with any intent to cause injury.

Watch out for repeats of these events so that they never get worse than near misses. If you find anything as nasty as the fence wire, first take it down so that no-one else is injured, and then call the police as soon as possible. If you cannot make it safe, call 999; otherwise consider the local police number: (01223) 358966 for Cambridge.

Mark Irving

Milton cycle bridge in place

Milton bridge pictures by Paul Oldham.

Very early on the morning of 8 November, the main span of the Milton Foot and Cycle bridge was moved into place over the A14. The contractors had built a viewing platform especially for the occasion, and it made a great vantage point to the floodlit bridge.

The £2 million bridge links Cowley Road on the Cambridge side to the Milton Country Park, and then the roundabout near Tesco. A cycle track is being constructed along Cowley Road.

The bridge is now expected to be opened some time next spring.

Clare Macrae

Correction

In the last Newsletter we illustrated a sign above double yellow lines which said "At any time". This sign is no longer needed - double yellow lines mean "No waiting at any time".

Grand Arcade plans

The developers of this very large city centre development (see www.grandarcade.co.uk and www.cambridge.gov.uk/planning/grandarc.htm) have submitted a new planning application to Cambridge City Council. The Cycling Campaign has written a letter of objection making the case for improvements to the way that the scheme makes provision for cyclists.

There is much that is good about the scheme from a cycling point of view: city centre shopping facilities will be much more accessible for cyclists than out-of-town shopping, and, apart from new Park and Ride capacity, levels of car parking will not be increased. We particularly welcome the fact that a large, on-site, secure, sheltered cycle park and a cycle contraflow along Corn Exchange Street are planned as part of the scheme.

Background

The developer's consultants estimate that the Grand Arcade will generate 95,000 additional cycle journeys each year, about 300 per day. We think this will prove to be an underestimate.

The application proposes an underground cycle park with 511 cycle spaces close to Corn Exchange Street and a further 26 spaces elsewhere which are presumed to be for the Magistrates Court. The consultants predict that the larger cycle park 'will be used mostly for long stay cycle parking e.g. by workers in the City Centre' as 'a secure sheltered facility will be very attractive to such users...'

Cycle park access

The planned location for the cycle park is far from ideal given that the City Council's Cycle Parking Standards specify that cycle parking should be located on site and close to the main entrances of new buildings. Despite this, we believe that a cycle park in the planned location could be made to work by the following measures:

• Implementation of a cycle contraflow in Corn Exchange Street. Direct cycle access should be provided to the cycle park from both Downing Street and the Guildhall area. We are therefore very pleased to see that a contraflow cycleway along Corn Exchange Street has been designed into the scheme and is shown in the most recent drawings. It is essential that this contraflow be implemented. Without it, a cycle park at this location would be very unattractive to cyclists. A main cycle park accessible from St Andrew's Street (where there would be two-way street access for cyclists) would be needed instead.
• Relocation of the entrance to the cycle park. The proposed entrance would require cyclists to dismount and wheel their cycles either along Guildhall Place or along a passageway from Corn Exchange Street which is less than two metres wide. Both of these routes are likely to be congested with pedestrians during peak shopping hours and this would deter cyclists from using the cycle park. We have therefore asked that the entrance be relocated to Corn Exchange Street so that cyclists will be able to reach the entrance without the need to dismount or mix with pedestrians.
• Redesign of the access ramp. The application proposes a stepped ramp which requires cyclists to wheel their cycles along a groove. This is not a viable option. Elderly and disabled cyclists, cyclists carrying young children on their cycles (of whom there are many in Cambridge) and those with heavy shopping, would have such great difficulty in using a stepped ramp that they would be likely to avoid the cycle park.

If cars can be provided with a ramp with easy gradients, similar provision should be made for cyclists so that they can access the park easily without dismounting. This should not be difficult as the drawings show that the proposed floor level for the cycle park is little more than a metre below the level of Corn Exchange Street.

Access provision for cyclists to the Magistrates Court cycle spaces is unclear.

Corn Exchange Street: The Grand Arcade and the cycle contraflow.

The number of cycle spaces to be provided

The City Council Cycle Parking Standards are very specific about how the number of cycle spaces required for a development is to be calculated. The calculated number is a mandatory minimum and no provision is made for negotiation between the Council and the developer over a lower figure, as is the case with car parking spaces. In our letter we asked that the number required by the Standards should be calculated and made public. Our calculations indicate that the proposed provision falls far below the amount required, so approval of the present application would constitute a serious breach of these Standards.

The proposed number of on-site cycle spaces to be provided is 537. However, the plans envisage the removal of well over 135 existing cycle spaces, resulting in a net increase of less than 400 spaces, a totally insufficient number given the scale of the new development:

• 58 spaces would be removed from Fisher Square. These are particularly heavily used by cyclists going to the Central Library and Lion Yard
• 40 spaces from Corn Exchange Street
• 20 spaces from St Tibb's Row
• 12 private spaces from within a yard behind Robert Sayle
• five private spaces from beneath the Norwich Union building
• many other informal (or private) spaces in sheds, yards and along walls and railings in the St Tibb's Row area would also be removed.

As everyone who cycles to the area knows, this figure of more than 135 existing spaces is much less than cyclists need at present. Any calculation of cycle parking needs should take into account the spaces that will be lost and the scale of present underprovision as well as the new requirements that will be generated by the scheme.

We were also concerned about hints in the application that the developers might press for the removal of the existing cycle parking along the frontage of the scheme in St Andrew's Street (10 spaces outside Robert Sayle and 16 spaces outside the Post Office). These spaces may have to be temporarily removed during the construction phase but we have objected strongly to any suggestion that they should not be reinstated when the construction is completed. They are among the most heavily used cycle spaces in Cambridge.

We argued that, in considering the amount of cycle parking needed, the council should consider the multiple purposes of the cycle parking, long and short stay, which will be used by:

• employees of the Grand Arcade,
• shoppers visiting the Grand Arcade,
• Magistrates Court employees and visitors,
• those visiting the Central Library and the rest of the western part of the Lion Yard (whose cycle parking in Fisher Square and Corn Exchange Street this scheme removes), and
• people employed elsewhere in the City Centre, as stated in the transport assessment.

We welcomed the fact that the cycle park, like the car park, is intended to cater for the wider city centre and not just the Grand Arcade.

The layout of the cycle parking

The application does not contain enough detail about the layout of the cycle park to enable us to determine whether the space between adjacent cycle stands and between rows is adequate. A minimum of one metre between stands is essential and it is not clear that the designated cycle parking areas are sufficient to accommodate the proposed 511 and 26 bicycles.

The control and operation of the cycle parking

We expressed our concern that no indication is given in the application about whether the two cycle parking areas would be available for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, whether a parking fee would be charged, whether they would be staffed and whether they would be covered by CCTV. These matters need to be clarified before planning permission is considered.

Conclusion

If these matters are satisfactorily resolved, we believe that the cycle parking at the Grand Arcade and the proposed contraflow in Corn Exchange Street could be valuable for cyclists. Obviously it would have been better to have the main cycle park close to the St Andrews Street frontage where the cycle parking need is greatest, but the Corn Exchange Street location is a reasonable alternative provided that the contraflow is installed.

We are concerned that so little attention has been given to the need for cyclists to be able to cycle into the cycle park, and that the number of cycle parking spaces is well below that required by the City Council's mandatory Cycle Parking Standards. The best solution would probably be to add another cycle park in a different part of the site closer to St Andrew's Street. We must not end up with the same kind of underprovision that occurred before the Cycle Parking Standards were enacted and which the Standards are designed to remedy.

James Woodburn

A tale of two bus lanes

Our campaign against the installation of new bus lanes in Hills Road and Milton Road continues and is so far having some modest success. We argue that, if these two bus lanes were to be installed, any advantage to bus passengers would be outweighed by damage to pedestrian and cycle facilities.

Hills Road

The initial Hills Road proposals were withdrawn and a new less drastic proposal has been substituted (Newsletter 49). Our carefully-recorded bus censuses cast doubt on whether delays to buses along Hills Road are sufficiently frequent or severe to justify any bus lane scheme at all there, given the manifest problems that any scheme would cause for pedestrians and cyclists. Councillors have asked council officers to obtain additional data to justify the proposal and our understanding is that these new data, if ready, will be presented at the next meeting of the Cambridge Environment and Transport Area Joint Committee on 26 January. No public consultation on the new scheme has taken place yet, and none is planned before the January meeting, so we think that no decision to implement the new scheme could be taken at this meeting. We will watch the situation carefully and, at the same time, continue with our own monitoring of the scale of bus delays along Hills Road. If a date for public consultation is announced, we aim to prepare and distribute leaflets to those who would be most affected by the proposed scheme.

Milton Road

For the Milton Road proposal the situation is different. A new public consultation was held in September and we submitted a detailed letter of objection. The issue came before the Area Joint Committee on 20 October and council officers recommended that the bus lane proposal be approved. Before the meeting we sent a letter to all of the City and County Councillors on the committee setting out our objections to the proposal. (Our letter is shown below.) We also sent the results of a detailed bus census we carried out on 13 October during the afternoon traffic peak from 4 pm to 6 pm. Although it was during the school and university terms and at one of the times of the year when traffic levels are high, the traffic, including buses, flowed freely along the length of the proposed bus lane. There were no traffic queues and no delays. The slowest bus took only 1 minute 29 seconds to cover the length of the proposed bus lane. Installing a bus lane could not have speeded up any of these buses. The issue is, of course, how frequent are such bus delays as could be reduced by a bus lane. We were pleased when at the meeting Councillors decided to defer their decision and asked for more data on delays. Officials will collect more data and so will we. A final decision on whether to go ahead with the scheme is due to be made on 26 January. We will do our best to persuade Councillors to reject the scheme.

James Woodburn

Sustrans talk

Sustrans Director John Grimshaw gave a talk in Cambridge on 12 November about the progress of the National Cycling Network (NCN). He announced that the 'Grand Opening' of the next expansion of these routes is expected to take place in Cambridge in September 2005.

This means the pressure is on to complete a number of the routes that converge on Cambridge before that date. Sustrans is making an application to the Government for extra funds to ensure this objective.

Sustrans would like Cambridge Cycling Campaign to be one of the partners in the venture of this Grand Opening. Details of NCN routes, both existing and proposed, can be seen at www.sustrans.org.uk.

There have also been discussions about a number of new routes around Cambridge to provide leisure routes out of the city, and better routes for those cycle-commuting to and from villages around the city. These are likely to be promoted under the name 'Cam Cycle Rings', and will include the NCN routes for completion by 2005 and extra links to villages, and places such as the Imperial War Museum and Wicken Fen.

Jim Chisholm

Sustrans' planned National Cycle Network routes near Cambridge and possible Cam Cycle Rings.

Adaptable cyclists cope with abysmal Cambridge road layouts

I live in Cherry Hinton and my daughter goes to the Spinney School. She would love to cycle there, but over this 2 km distance she would be exposed to abysmal Cambridge 'traffic calming'. The planners for this route obviously felt that using a cyclist's body to retard the speed of cars, vans, buses and trucks is acceptable.

Having ridden a few tandems in the past (including up Ditchling Beacon three times without putting a foot down) I knew this was a good way to control my daughter's position on the road. A trailer bike is just too unstable for my liking and seriously saps power. The trailer buggy that we have is now getting a bit too small for her, and on too many badly designed cycle routes, old and new, it is now just too much hassle. It is narrower and lower than a wheelchair, but often does not fit safely into painted cycle lanes, is still almost unusable through all the 'pram handles,' and is very tedious to walk through thoughtlessly positioned chicanes. A tandem is about the same length as a single bike plus trailer, so the same chicanes will stop me again.

Kiddie cranks.

The one problem with tandems and children is how to get them to pedal. In tandem circles (a seriously dedicated group) there are two options: kiddie cranks or kiddie back tandems.

Kiddie cranks are great because you can use a full size tandem and even use it with another adult by swapping the pedals to the lower cranks while keeping the upper kiddie cranks in place. They do cost around £135 plus about £40 for cranks the right length for children (about 140 mm or less for a six-year-old) as the 170 mm cranks usually supplied are hopelessly too long (see my daughter's leg travel in picture). However you would easily sell these on in the tandem world once your child has outgrown them.

The option I have gone for is a kiddie back tandem (see photograph). This is the cheaper route if you want a more modern tandem, but one point to note is that they may not take a rear child seat. I will be looking into making an adapter for mine, but the stability with the middle stoker missing may be an issue.

Second-hand 'proper' tandems a few years old start around £400, add to this the kiddie cranks and the outlay is around £550. Although hard to find, second-hand kiddie back tandems cost around £300. I believe only Thorn and Dawes make them at the moment and if you wanted to buy new you would find there is quite a waiting list. It is like buying a Morgan car!

Hired Dawes TwoCan child-back tandem.

I was lucky and located a Dawes TwoCan at a hire centre, immediately put a deposit on it, and will be its new owner very soon. The hire centre put an order in for this bike six months before it turned up, so I was very lucky and saved a few hundred pounds over new. The outlay on our tandem is the same as the true running costs of our two cars in a month.

Now I have my daughter in a safer position my next trick is to escape the 'triangle of steel' (the M11, A11 and A14) with her. While I can brave the very fast A-road junctions to the south-east, there is no way I would subject my daughter to this. This is a problem because I would like to challenge her to cycling to Ipswich on the tandem. A route I often travel on, all of the twisty 65 miles are fine except for the first five out of Cambridge. I believe it is possible by a long easterly byway detour but how muddy this will get remains to be seen.

Our household has two cars, two children and two working parents. We are discouraged from cycling very far by poor road layouts, even the 2 km to school, yet so desperate are we to cycle safely with our children we have become adept at coping with the difficulties.

But please note, if you see a yellow tandem in your mirror - move over!

Matthew Polaine

Cycle parking grants

The Travel for Work scheme is once again inviting local employers to bid for matched funding for projects that will improve cycle parking on their sites. Expert advice will be available on stand type, location and spacing. The funding for the scheme comes from Cambridge City Council's Sustainable City Fund and the County Council's Local Transport Plan funds.

Application forms can be obtained from Travel for Work; contact mark@tfw.org.uk or telephone (01223) 712429.

Coldhams Business Park works to require temporary closure of the Tins path

The development known as Coldhams Business Park, which is to include a high quality 3 m wide red surfaced cycleway and separate 1.8 m wide footpath, is nearing completion. Thanks must go to Campaign members who spotted that the developers had submitted plans for a considerably reduced path width compared to the original scheme. Following objections from several parties, including local councillors, path widths were widened to allow for safe two-way cycling. Responses to our comments also resulted in the introduction of measures to slow vehicles using the hotel access road. Unfortunately, path widths were restricted at this junction because the adjacent roundabout and access roads had already been constructed. We feel that major lessons can be learned from this and that it would be preferable to consider such interdependent planning applications as one entity.

Closure for up to a week is required to extend the path as it approaches the railway bridge and avoid this rather abrupt ending.

This path is usually called the Tins; it crosses the site of the former Blue Circle cement works off Coldham's Lane. To allow the safe completion of the path as it approaches the railway bridge, this right of way will be closed for a period of up to one week, probably in January 2004. It was rather disappointing to learn recently that a problem has arisen with the 'approved plans' which had included a sensible increase in path width right up to the sharp bend near the bridge. For this width increase to be implemented, construction would extend outside land under the developers' control. Currently the cycle path stops very suddenly, but the neighbouring landowners have agreed to allow some works on their land so that such a sudden change in path width can be avoided. One hopes construction will proceed as in the original plans since any major alterations would require further planning consent and thus more delays.

This awkward diversion across the hotel access route may continue until the new cycle path is completed in March 2004.

The new path through the centre of the development is planned for completion in early March 2004. Part of the temporary path beside the railway line has already been closed to allow works at the rear of the hotel, and cyclists and pedestrians are now directed around the hotel complex. The hotel will open on 28 November, so be careful for the next 2-3 months when crossing the hotel access road at its temporary junction. We have asked for this area to remain well lit, and for the retention of measures that cause vehicles to slow down.

Improvements to paths to the east and west of Coldhams Business Park will be funded by monies from this development and will be the subject of future planning applications. We hope for another high quality construction along this extremely well used route, but this may well require co-operation from a number of parties who control the land, including Network Rail and the Council. When one considers that the alternative to the 'Tins' path is a busy, fast and narrow section of Coldham's Lane, it is not difficult to appreciate why we believe that major improvements to the entire route would represent an extremely worthwhile investment in sustainable transport for Cambridge.

Comments to Justin Bainton (justin.bainton@cambridge.gov.uk) and Jon Finney (jon.finney@cambridge.gov.uk).

Martyn Smith

Velo-City 2003: Simon's story

I went to the Velo-City 2003 conference in Paris in September, to give a poster presentation about promoting cycling in Cambridge. This week-long event had 782 delegates from 44 countries.

The previous Velo-City was in Glasgow, and Bertrand Delanoë, Mayor of Paris, opened the conference at a long session where lots of good speeches covered how the bicycle can revitalise city life and the difficulty the cycle has in being taken seriously as a solution by governments. Steven Norris described charismatically how in the UK the white line is blessed with magical powers and how the cyclists dismount signs are examples of failure. Patrick Kayemba explained a problem for cycling in Africa: Africans can't afford one (only 4% own a bicycle) and most Africans walk. But they still have car centric policies!

Segué

I finally lost my Segway^® virginity in the exhibition area. Lean forward or backward or twist a grip to turn - the bloody thing works really really well - until you need to lift (37 kg) or park it. An American bloke apparently sells four-hour tours of Paris on these things at ¤70 a throw.

We were all lent MONOPRIX advertising bikes for the conference. After the group photo of all the delegates we cycled to the Hôtel de Ville (city hall). A presentation was held in a long chandeliered banqueting hall. Bad acoustics meant the speeches were talked over but then began a video of 20 or so examples of the use of the bicycle in advertising.

Some were quite funny - like the South African FIAT punto ad about the driver who is cross that the cycle courier leans on his bonnet at the lights. As they move off the driver schemes how to get his own back and it looks like he's going to knock him off. But at the next lights just as the courier puts his hand out to rest on the bonnet the Fiat reverses violently and the cyclist falls to the ground. Needless to say it didn't win - but a wonderfully photographed advert for Orange mobile phones came third. Shot in Asia in a sea of cyclists, a single cyclist cuts his way effortlessly against the flow. First and second prize winners weren't as interesting.

Health

Next day I caught the end of Dr Harry Rutter's talk. He has done new work to update (and, as it turns out, verify) Mayer Hillman's finding that you are about 20 times more likely to lengthen your life by regular cycling than not. Hence: health authorities should promote it! (Late evening we ended up dining with a French medical doctor. His wife guided us several kilometres to a fabulous restaurant, almost entirely the wrong way along one-way streets!)

Policy

Jan Cook from Babtie explained why only one of over 200 local authorities use cycle audit and proposed that a new 'Vulnerable Road User Audit' might catch on as it encompasses a wider range of people and complements the statutory Safety Audit. Oxfordshire County Council will adopt it and make the Audit Process publicly available - but of course Babtie will be uniquely placed to help other authorities implement it.

BYPAD is Europe-wide 'benchmarking' and a talk described involvement of user groups in assessing the cycling status of towns. CTC's Tony Russell described the expansion to regional level of the benchmarking project he's led.

Integration with public transport

In one of the more difficult sessions of the conference heads of RATP (Paris underground), SNCF (French railways), UITP (EU version of Integrated Transport) and Fietsersbond (Dutch CTC) took part in a panel debate.

Conference: Why can't we take bikes on the metro?

RATP: Because the system is 100 years old.

Conference: Why can't we take the bikes on the TGV to Marseilles or on Eurostar?

SNCF: Well I can't give that excuse.

UITP rep, Heather Allen said that good cycle facilities made bus and train ten times more attractive to potential users.

Three cities

Another session compared Berlin, Paris and London. Berlin it seems is way ahead of both, but London has the congestion charge. The discussion ranged over cycle parking - and Rose Ades, a veteran campaigner who now works for Transport for London, described the process of trying to put stands in residential areas as a 'ghastly edifice.'

Champs Elysées

Along the Champs Elysées: four of the eight traffic lanes were full of cyclists.

After egg and mushroom crêpe I joined the masses assembling for the ride. Astonishing numbers of cyclists. We spent about 90 minutes cycling up George V Street and along the Champs Elysées, my first time on this road and in the setting sun it was stunning. The Arc de Triomphe silhouetted dramatically against softening light behind us and the golden glint of the Cleopatra's needle a long way ahead. In between, four of the eight traffic lanes were full of cyclists - like a scene from films of China. When we arrive at Hotel de Ville on schedule at 21:30 we're told that there were a jaw dropping, bell-ringing total of 8,000 cyclists on the ride.

The Hotel de Ville.

Next day we took a shuttle bus that was to take us to another party, this time offered by the RATP (Paris Mass Transport System). The overcrowded bus eventually set off and almost got to the destination, but then stopped for ten minutes while the driver worked out where to go. Half an hour later we drove past where we had started and by now the whole bus had lost faith and were singing the Marseillaise! The conference organiser (who had a seat near me and was supposed to give a speech with a minister) remained astonishingly calm. Eventually we got to the site - an engineering works where a new generation of trams were being prepared for roll out. An excellent party of food and entertainment all helped to strengthen international relations.

On the last day, I learnt a little from Greece. Fast traffic and motorbikes make Athens a depressing place from a cycling point of view. While they don't seem to have abandoned railways to convert into cycleways, they do have (rather worryingly) a dried up river bed! The Olympics might mean they can cobble together some sort of cycling and walking routes by mid 2004.

Detecting Cyclists

I went to a couple of sessions on automatic cycle counters. In one system a specially designed induction loop is placed in the road and a standard traffic counter is used. The counter has been customised so that it only picks out cycles and doesn't confuse them with motorbikes and cars. Another system used a radar suspended over the cycle path. Both were susceptible to errors, but at least the radar could tell which way the cyclist was going. The error was about 10% in both systems and the latter cost ¤3,000 to install. At these levels of accuracy I suggested that it was better to use human traffic counters. The power of the results is in their use as evidence to prove to politicians that cyclists are commuters.

Cycling Scotland

Hosting Velo-City 2001 has had a tremendous impact on cycling in Scotland and led to the formation of a new organisation to carry on promoting cycling. Already this organisation has done a TV advert to promote cycling. The warmth and good will built up during the conference were evident during the closing speeches. After tearful farewells this year, all will be reunited at the next Velo-City in Dublin in June 2005. Cape Town will host Velo Mondiale in March 2006.

My Conclusions

Having been involved with promoting cycling for eight years now, I, like many of the other delegates, already know the strong arguments for encouraging more cycling. Apart from all the good things like health, efficiency and practicality, more cycling and other green transport can make cities more liveable. The power of this conference is that, in the host city at least, it forces many of the people who would not normally attend such events to have to think seriously about these issues. There is evidence, in Paris at least, that the current administration is tackling that problem - but they've still got a long way to go.

Cyclists have been leaders in bringing the arguments forward, but if we all want to go further we have to take more people with us. Perhaps the future is to create transport corridors that cater for slower moving, quiet, environmentally friendly transport options to grow into the space currently occupied by fast, lethal and polluting roads. This conference educated us about initiatives around the world that are embracing these challenges.

Simon Nuttall

Norwich wheels on the train

Four members of Norwich Cycling Campaign came down to Cambridge on a typically autumnal Sunday at the end of October. This was the return of the exchange visit that started with the opening of the direct Norwich to Cambridge rail link last year. Three of the visitors are also members of Cambridge Cycling Campaign, and so Sarah (who is a former Stall officer) dubbed it the 'Coals to Newcastle' ride. This was a chance to show off some of the Campaign's achievements and frustrations to our neighbours and share ideas.

Nigel Deakin led the tour, which took in the dreadfully inadequate cycle parking at the railway station, the wonderful cycle bridge over the railway (which is woefully missing a ramp into the station), part of the Cambridge South East Cycle Route (crossing Gonville Place at Gresham Road) and the campaign's success at keeping rush hour parking out of Regent's Terrace. Much admiration of the still under-used Park Street Cycle Park, the rising bollards and then out onto West Cambridge via the new toucan Crossing of Queen's Road on the Backs. We discovered that the cycle parking at the Computer Laboratory is now even better with a paved surface. After exchanging campaigning stories over pizza in Jesus Lane we just had time to show off the Newmarket Road cycle filter lights and the Sustrans route before threading back to the station for farewells.

As this was a hastily organised event there'll be a more full visit from Norwich again early next year, when for instance we should be able to ride over the new A14 bridge.

Simon Nuttall

Station area developments

A 'Stakeholder' workshop will be held in January or early February, at which time the plans of developments in the railway station area will become public. It is also hoped that discussions with the developers may enable some interim improvements for cyclists in this area.

Jim Chisholm

Cycling on shared paths

Cambridge City Council has recently published this leaflet which is aimed at encouraging considerate use of shared paths by both cyclists and pedestrians. The leaflet is constructive and balanced, and we have welcomed it. 2000 copies have been printed, initially distributed at Fresher's Fair.

Clare Macrae

Cycling shorts

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published free guidance on work-related road safety aimed at any employer, manager or supervisor with staff who drive or ride a motorcycle or bicycle at work. Driving at work - Managing work-related road safety, as its title suggests, is not specific to cycling, but its principles for good business practice apply to all who travel for work.

The Department for Transport and Department for Education and Skills have been trying to encourage cycling (and walking) to school with some new handbooks this autumn. Travelling to School: a good practice guide and Travelling to School: an action plan are intended to complement each other, and may be useful to campaigners as well as to schools themselves.

TRL, formerly the Transport Research Laboratory, has published four new reports. TRL462: Cycle track crossings of minor roads, TRL549: Drivers' perceptions of cyclists, TRL585: Capacity Implications of Advanced Stop Lines for Cyclists, and TRL578: Cycle helmet wearing in 2002 may help our county council engineers and councillors. We may be able to publish a review of these, but for now, here's a taste of the second: 'There are a number of [places] where cyclists experience problems as a result of driver behaviour. These include narrow lanes... where drivers may be tempted or pressurised to overtake cyclists without sufficient space.'

Heart Forum says the National Heart Foundation would like the new Government helmet campaign to be withdrawn because it could lead to declines in cycling by implying that it is highly dangerous. More money should be spent instead on encouraging cycling by calming traffic and making roads safer.

The London borough of Hackney increased its modal share of cycling to work by more than Cambridge, according to the 1991 and 2001 census data. Hackney increased cycling from 4.03% to 6.83% while Cambridge came second in the country with an increase from 26.06% to 28.34%. Central London separately reports a 15% rise in cycling since the introduction of the congestion charge this year.

2002's national road casualty statistics were published recently. Pedal cyclist casualties fell by 11% compared with 2001. The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured fell by almost 9% overall, and the number of fatalities fell by 6%. Pedal cyclist casualty rates ('per hundred million vehicle kilometres') also fell and are now at the lowest for more than ten years.

The City of London Police recently sent out a press release which recommended using two good quality bike locks. Most cyclists have either a D-lock or a cable lock; they recommend using one of each. The extra tools and increased time needed to overcome two locks help to deter thieves.

Local Transport Plan

Cambridgeshire's Local Transport Plan for 2004-2011 has been published. It is available on the County Council's web site; we hope to review it in our next issue.

www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/sub/eandt/planning/trplan/2004/

Letters

CAST.IRON

I have read with interest your Newsletter item 'CAST.IRON or concrete?' and have forwarded a detailed response to the Campaign.

In summary, I would like you all to know that CAST.IRON most certainly is not too late. The only serious opposition we face are 30 Cambridgeshire County Councillors out of 58. There is a crucial vote in December; we believe up to five of the 30 would vote against the guided bus if a rail option was on the table. Now it is.

Cambridge City, South Cambridgeshire District and Huntingdonshire District Councils are broadly opposed to the guided bus, as is Anne Campbell MP. This opposition is based on the overriding principle that we should not destroy a potential link in the national rail network.

MPs James Paice and Jonathan Djanogly favour rail if it can be shown to be viable. Andrew Lansley MP has asked to be kept informed of our case against the guided bus.

Liberal Democrat County Councillor Alex Reid has created a pro-rail website, www.cambrail.com, on which you will find a petition calling on the County Council to look again at rail.

From your point of view, you should be aware that there is no guarantee that a parallel cycle lane can be provided. As I understand it, the guideways for the buses will be subject to a Transport and Works Act Order application, but the service road will be subject to 'normal' planning permission.

The Council have told us that the service road will be for cycles, pedestrians and horses, i.e. a 'free' benefit of this roadway, which is required to rescue failed buses. They have also told us that for safety reasons, particularly with regard to the horses, there will have to be a fence or hedge between the service road and the guideway. So how does the service vehicle get to the failed bus? And is the service road blocked during such operations?

Each guideway is 2.6 m wide, with a 0.1 m gap between. This is already much wider than a railway formation, even before the service road goes in.

However, the bigger picture is that for cyclists as a whole, the rail option provides much, much more; namely, the potential to take your cycle to anywhere on the national network. It is not common practice to have cycleways parallel to railways but most rail operators provide cycle accommodation and CAST.IRON guarantees to maximise such accommodation. However fit you all are, St Ives to Cambridge is a pretty long cycle ride!

Our Stage 1 proposals include staffed stations and road crossings, meaning that cycle parking is supervised.

Finally, here's an interesting statistic, courtesy the County Council. The guided bus is predicted to remove 4% (as in one twenty-fifth) of traffic from the A14. Why so low? Because, of course, it can only remove journeys that finish up in Cambridge. It will do nothing to remove any regional or through car journeys, nor a single lorry.

Please visit our website and join us, or write for copies of our leaflet and application form. We would be thrilled if your campaign would also join us as a non-corporate member and agree to be part of the Coalition of Anti-Guided Bus Organisations, which we are in the process of forming.

Tim Phillips, Chairman, The Cambridge And St. Ives Railway Organisation

Mitcham's Corner

I cycle daily from Cottenham to Cambridge along the Histon Road, Gilbert Road, Milton Road, Mitcham's Corner and onwards. Whilst the new arrangements at Mitcham's Corner are different, and a bit of an improvement, there are bad spots. The approach from Milton Road has no provision for cyclists to stop at the crossing without obstructing following cyclists or pedestrians waiting at the crossing. If you don't take the crossing and risk your lot with the motorist there is no provision to navigate round to Victoria Avenue.

Likewise on the approach from Victoria Avenue there is no facility to get off the designated cycle lane to a safe place to stop and cross at the crossing.

Misguidedly, I have taken to sloping off onto the pavement in order to stop without obstructing following cyclists or waiting pedestrians at the crossing. Bad move and probably illegal. In the wet weather of last Friday week I took the curb too obliquely and fell heavily on the pavement.

Still suffering and feeling rather foolish - but what to do about these puzzling half provisions for cyclists. Was there anyone on the planning group who actually rides a bike round Mitcham's Corner? We shouldn't get second best.

Lizzie Cook

I am told that Cambridgeshire County Council is dealing with some of the issues Lizzie raised. Ed.

Reporting faults and problems

See also: www.camcycle.org.uk/resources/problems/

Road conditions and street furniture

• To report specific potholes, poor surfaces or overgrown foliage, within the City, Fulbourn and Histon:
  • Call Terry Radford at the City Council (01223) 458260
  • Use the County Council's reporting form www.camcnty.gov.uk/sub/eandt/highways/hwayform.htm
  • Print out and send our Pothole Postcard.
• Street/traffic lights: report the town, street, and post number to:
  • The hotline 0800 253529
  • Email street.lighting@transportation.camcnty.gov.uk
  • See the County Council's website www.camcnty.gov.uk/sub/eandt/highways/slight.htm
• Broken glass on road or paths: Street Scene 01223 459286
• For off-road areas within the City such as the commons, call the City Council.
• For general complaints about lack of facilities or poor surface quality write (not phone) to Brian Smith, Director of Environment and Transport, Cambridgeshire County Council, Shire Hall, Castle Hill, Cambridge CB3 0AP.

Injuries

• Police - Parkside, Cambridge 01223 358966. Make sure you ask for a log number, and report any problem/incident as soon as possible.
• See our Injury/Collision Advice web pages.

Cycle parking

• For cycle parking, contact both City and County Councils.
• For cycle parking at the station, contact WAGN.
• You may be interested to find out more about Simon Nuttall's work with the Police to provide more cycle parking and reduce theft: www.cam.net.uk/home/aaa137/simon/bicycles/theft_reduction/

Poor driver behaviour

• For parking in bike lanes and similar, the Senior Traffic Warden 358966
• See also our car parking postcard.

Taxis: Bad driving, etc.

• Contact the Transport Services Division: 01223 457888 or fax 01223 457889
• Taxi Licensing, Cambridge City Council, Mill Road Depot, Cambridge, CB1 2AZ

Abandoned Cars

• Cambridge City Council - Environment & Planning Department - Highways Section, Cambridge City Council, The Guildhall, Cambridge, CB2 3QJ
• Highways Inspector on 01223 458282

Buses

• Stagecoach Cambus (including Park & Ride): Chris Moderate, Operations Manager, Stagecoach Cambus, 100 Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 4DN
• Guide Friday Tour Buses: cambridge@guidefriday.com, or: The Manager, Guide Friday Tourism Centre, Cambridge Railway Station, Cambridge CB1 2JH, England

Small ads

Wanted

Local cycling pressure group seeks secretary. Use of a computer and consistent, organised administrative skills needed. Expenses paid. Email contact@camcycle.org.uk.

Suitable tandem as family hack. Also kiddy cranks. (This tandem will have the kiddy cranks fitted to it). Sturdy frame with 3-speed fine as well as triples, but this is cycling on the cheap so triples unlikely. Frame must be sound. Any advice on tandem + children welcome. I have a Chariot deluxe trailer buggy to swap or sell too, with buggy front wheels, Weber hitch and more basic hitch. Call Matt for a barter on (01223) 245965.

Campaign Diary

December 2003
Tue 2	7.30 pm	Monthly open meeting, Friends' Meeting House, Jesus Lane, at the Park Street junction. (Tea and coffee, a chance to chat, and for us to introduce ourselves to new members for the first half-hour. The meeting proper starts at 8 pm.)
Wed 3	5-7 pm	Free cycle security coding at Cambridge Station Cycles, next to the railway station. The security code is a deterrent to theft and enables bikes to be traced nationally.
Sun 14	1 pm	Leisurely Ride. A countryside ride, at a gentle pace. Meet at Hobbs Pavilion on Parker's Piece. Back in Cambridge around 5 pm.
Mon 15	7 pm	Join us for a social gathering at CB2 café 5-7 Norfolk Street.
Fri 19	8.30 am	Newsletter 51 review and planning for 52, over breakfast at Tatties café.
Sat 27	10-2	Free cycle security coding at Park Street Cycle Park. The security code is a deterrent to theft and enables bikes to be traced nationally.
January 2004
Tue 6	7.30 pm	Monthly open meeting, Friends' Meeting House, Jesus Lane. See 2 December for a description.
Tue 6		Bicycle Maintenance 1 evening class, Coleridge Community College, Radegund Road. First of five weekly sessions aimed at people with little or no previous experience of bicycle maintenance who want to get started. Further information on Camlearn (www.camlearn.net), enrolments (01223) 712340/1.
Wed 7	5-7 pm	Free cycle security coding at Cambridge Station Cycles, next to the railway station. The security code is a deterrent to theft and enables bikes to be traced nationally.
Sat 10		Newsletter 52 copy deadline. Please contact the editor if you would like to write an article.
Sun 11	1 pm	Leisurely Ride. A countryside ride, at a gentle pace. Meet at Hobbs Pavilion on Parker's Piece. Back in Cambridge around 5 pm.
Mon 19	7 pm	Join us for a social gathering at CB2 café 5-7 Norfolk Street.
Wed 28	7.30 pm	Newsletter 52 Envelope Stuffing at the Baby Milk Action offices, 23 St Andrews Street (between the Robert Sayle main and computer shop entrances, entrance next to Lunch Aid). Help very much welcomed!
Sat 31	10-2	Free cycle security coding at Park Street Cycle Park. The security code is a deterrent to theft and enables bikes to be traced nationally.
February 2004
Tue 3	7.30 pm	Monthly open meeting, Friends' Meeting House, Jesus Lane. See 2 December for a description.
Wed 4	5-7 pm	Free cycle security coding at Cambridge Station Cycles, next to the railway station. The security code is a deterrent to theft and enables bikes to be traced nationally.
Sun 8	1 pm	Leisurely Ride. A countryside ride, at a gentle pace. Meet at Hobbs Pavilion on Parker's Piece. Back in Cambridge around 5 pm.
Mon 16	7 pm	Join us for a social gathering at CB2 café 5-7 Norfolk Street.
Sat 28	10-2	Free cycle security coding at Park Street Cycle Park. The security code is a deterrent to theft and enables bikes to be traced nationally.

Your streets this month

Vital route reprieved until January

The Cambridge Area Joint Committee has delayed yet again a decision on whether to remove the cycle lanes from a 350 m section of Milton Road between Woodhead Drive and King's Hedges Road to make room for an outbound bus lane. Councillors accepted our view that council officers have not provided enough information to justify this bus lane, and told them to carry out additional surveys of bus delays. Councillors will consider the results of these surveys in January and decide then whether to go ahead with this scheme.

Useful route saved

Illegal parking on Abbey Walk.

Following objections from the Campaign and local residents, the proposal to convert Abbey Walk to a one way street - with no exemption for cyclists - has been withdrawn. We understand that any future proposals for this street are likely to maintain this useful local link for two-way cycling.

More city centre changes

Following the completion of the part-time closure of Silver Street, the County Council is now looking at making major changes in yet another area of the city centre. Councillors have decided to hold preliminary consultations on a scheme to reduce traffic in Regent Street in order to speed up buses. The proposals involve closing the eastern end of Downing Street to motor traffic during the evening peak and diverting cars leaving Lion Yard car park down Tennis Court Road instead. This would mean making Downing Street two-way for the short length between the car park exit and Tennis Court Road. The one way flow of motor traffic at the south end of Tennis Court Road would be reversed to cater for this. In addition, motor vehicles driving along Regent Street towards the City Centre would be prevented from proceeding beyond the junction with Park Terrace. Buses and taxis would as usual be exempt from all these restrictions. These plans are at an early stage and we will be looking at them very closely.

More West Cambridge changes

Councillors want to reduce delays to buses in Madingley Road and Queen's Road by diverting them through the local streets instead, and have approved for consultation a number of measures to make this possible. Buses would run along Wilberforce Road (where the existing closure would be replaced by rising bollards), Adams Road (where parking would be removed from one side), Grange Road and West Road. Traffic signals would be introduced at the junction of West Road with Queen's Road, with a toucan crossing to help cyclists get across to Queens' Green. An alternative route via Sidgwick Avenue will also be included in the consultation.

South Cambridge

There's one scheme to report this month that is expressly intended to benefit cyclists. This is route 11 of the National Cycle Network, which will run south from the city centre towards Addenbrooke's and ultimately to London. Consultation is currently in progress on the first section of this route, between Mill Lane and Brooklands Avenue via Coe Fen. The route starts at the Garden House Hotel and then runs through Coe Fen behind the Fitzwilliam Museum. It then crosses Fen Causeway at a new toucan and continues behind the Leys School to meet the existing path from Newnham to Brooklands Avenue. The new path will be rather narrow (1.8 m shared with pedestrians) and will be unlit. Comments to John Isherwood.

Traffic calming news

The traffic calming scheme proposed for the Alpha Road and Hertford Street area has been abandoned following objections from the Campaign and local residents. The scheme included a number of pinch points which would have made these streets less easy for cyclists.

Construction work has now finished on a traffic calming scheme in the Alex Wood Road area. We welcomed this modest scheme, which consists of two zebra crossings, two mini-roundabouts, a raised table and some parking restrictions, on the grounds that it would slow the traffic, improve visibility and still leave plenty of room for cars and bikes to keep out of each others' way.

About the Campaign

If you like what you see in this newsletter, add your voice to those of our 700 members by joining the Campaign.

Membership costs are low: £7.50 individual, £3.50 unwaged, £12 household. For this, you get six newsletters a year, discounts at a large number of bike shops, and you will be supporting our work. Please get in touch if you want to hear more.

Cambridge Cycling Campaign was set up in 1995 to voice the concerns of cyclists. We are not a cycling club but an organisation for lobbying and campaigning for the rights of cyclists, and for promoting cycling in and around Cambridge.

Our regular stall on Saturdays outside the Guildhall is the public face of the campaign; volunteers are always welcome to help. And don't forget our meetings, open to all, on the first Tuesday of each month, 7.30 for 8.00 pm at the Friends' Meeting House, Jesus Lane, Cambridge.

Elected Officers 2003-2004

• Co-ordinator - Martin Lucas-Smith
• Liaison Officer - Clare Macrae
• Membership Secretary - Dave Earl
• Newsletter Editor - Mark Irving
• Treasurer - David Dyer
• Stall Officer - Paul Tonks 07870 441257
• Press Officer - James Woodburn
• Officers without portfolio
  Jim Chisholm, Nigel Deakin, Richard Taylor,
  Lisa Woodburn and Wookey
• (Non-committee) Secretary - post vacant

Contacting the Campaign

Cambridge Cycling Campaign
PO Box 204
Cambridge CB4 3FN

Telephone and fax (01223) 690718

www.camcycle.org.uk

E-mail contact@camcycle.org.uk

The print version of this newsletter is printed on recycled paper by Victoire Press, Bar Hill.

Grant aided by